


Still Life with Love

by TinyFakeFanficRock



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Ghouls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 05:50:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9370883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinyFakeFanficRock/pseuds/TinyFakeFanficRock
Summary: Angela compliments Keely in a way she won't shrug off.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Language of Flowers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2782589) by [inbox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inbox/pseuds/inbox). 



> Originally written for the Fallout Kink Meme.

Keely had lived so much longer than her that there was no way Angela would ever learn everything about her, and frankly, she liked it that way. It meant her lover was always full of surprises. Her favorite surprise thus far, however, was the one she'd gotten when she moved into Keely's book-choked Freeside apartment: Keely collected Pre-War silk flowers.

"They're like me," she'd said when Angela asked her about them. "Not as smooth, pretty, or good-smelling as the fresh ones --" here she winked, reached out, and affectionately pinched Angela's ass -- "but they've made it this long."

"And they're still beautiful," Angela told her, stroking her silver hair and kissing along a streak of pink muscle on her shoulder.

Keely mumbled a dismissive curse and looked away. Her inability to accept a compliment was the only thing Angela would change about her if she could. She wanted to tell Keely all the time how gosh-darn wonderful she was, but it seemed to embarrass her so much that Angela tried to limit her praise. _Tried._

Then someone brought a pile of salvaged Pre-War books to OSI. Angela had originally claimed _The Language of Flowers_ because she thought it might have botanical information, but what she found instead appealed to her on a personal, rather than academic, level.

She went through the book carefully, made an illustrated list of flowers that would tell Keely the things she wanted to say, and sent copies to her sister-in-law Terri, who worked for the Crimson Caravan, her cousin Lee Ann, who ran a curiosity shop in San Francisco, and another cousin, Dwight, whose prospecting had taken him just about all over creation. If silk versions of all these Old World flowers still existed, the Williams clan would find them. Then Angela tucked the book away in the middle of a stack she hadn't seen Keely touch in months. If she didn't know what the flowers meant, Angela could lavish all the flattery she wanted on her partner without bringing a blush to the remaining flesh on her cheeks.

And her family came through: Over the next few months, cherry blossoms, meadow lychnis, lavender, magnolia, gilly-flower, and clematis all found their way into Keely's collection. For Keely's birthday, Angela poured quite a few caps -- the exact number was best kept to herself, she was sure -- into a bouquet that said she was brilliant, she was funny, she was beautiful and loyal and perfect and _loved_ , so loved. Whenever Keely nodded off at her console, Angela stole a few minutes to arrange the cluster in a milk bottle, trying to show off every flower to its best advantage.

When she finally presented Keely with the completed arrangement, a bottle of wine, and two boxes of Fancy Lads, Angela could have sworn she saw her blue eyes mist over. She turned the arrangement several times as if cataloguing all the blooms in it, and then thanked Angela in a voice so thick it was almost a croak.

Then, a week later, Angela came home and found a silk crocus and red rose crossed atop her keyboard, along with a note that read: _It's cute how you thought I wouldn't notice a new book just because you slipped it under some others. I finally caught up on my reading and ... wow. I don't know what else to say, other than you're blind and deluded and really damn sweet. Love you, too, beautiful. Now come to bed._

And Angela did.

**Author's Note:**

> I used this list of flower meanings: http://www.languageofflowers.com/flowermeaning.htm


End file.
